Medicine: Drug for Drunkards

Drunkards cannot be cured by pills alone. But for almost three years,
U.S. doctors have been testing a Danish drug, Antabuse (TIME, Dec. 6,
1948), which makes a man loathe alcohol so that he literally cannot
stomach it.* They were leary of the drug because they knew that, if
improperly used (especially by pranksters), it might cause serious
illness or death. The Food & Drug Administration restricted the use of
Antabuse to carefully supervised medical experiments.

Last week, with the FDA's blessing, Antabuse went on sale for general
use on a doctor's prescription. It is no sure cure for alcoholism, but
it...